ABOUT THE BOOK
In 1951, A.J. McClane -- the noted editor of Field & Stream -- contracted with a major publishing house to produce the massive The Wise Fisherman's Encyclopedia. McClane contracted dozens of fishing experts to write entries on everything from bass fishing to fish hooks, experts who were a who's who of the day.

When it came to the section on Rod Making, the man entrusted to produce this seminal piece was a self-taught engineer and former rodmaker in the shop of Nat Uslan named Louis B. Feierabend. Feierabend was an expert rod maker, but more than this, he was an engineer and teacher who understood how to explain complicated things in easily understood language.

What Feierabend turned in was a 25,000 word treatise that remains to this day one of the most lucid explanations on how to build a bamboo fly rod put in print during its day. We are proud to announce that The Whitefish Press has contracted with Viking Penguin, the current copyright holders, to produce a special Limited Edition of this work that includes all of the original illustrations.

In addition, this work is edited and has a valuable introduction by noted rodmaker Jeffrey L. Hatton, who knew Feierabend and was gifted Lou's original drawings for the Super Z ferrule, along with its proper specs (reproduced in this book). We are also honored to have The Planing Form editor and acclaimed rodmaker Ron Barch pen a Preface, and esteemed rodmaker Jeffrey D. Wagner contribute an interview he did with Feierabend that fleshes out his biographical data. We also include in an appendix an interview with Feierabend in 1948 on the merits of the five sided rod.